Writings, Articles and Musings

Gratitude And Forgiveness = Power.

Gratitude and forgiveness are powerful mechanisms for healing. As a culture, we perhaps don’t express our gratitude often–or even loudly–enough. We say thank you when someone holds the door for us, and that is appropriate. But what about deeper, soul gratitude? When we are angry we usually have little problem expressing that; and even if we are not overtly angry, that nasty little creature still manages to make itself known in actions that hurt ourselves or others. Anger, resentment, blame will, unchecked and unexplored, have their way and wreak havoc on our body and mind.

Inversely, we can make the choice to go toward gratitude. When we feel grateful it behooves us to release that feeling in ways that are appropriate for our personality. Some may shout out to the world their gratitude–whether for health or abundance or even the ability to eat a ripe strawberry–while others might simply say a silent thanks. What is important is the act of full acknowledgement for every shining moment in our lives.

What has this got to do with hypnosis and acupuncture? Only everything. The two modalities help heal the body/mind in ways standard methods might not be able to. In my experience, healing often entails forgiveness of the self or others, or both. When we switch from blame, resentment and anger to an attitude of gratitude, our entire body and mind shift with it. This seismic change affects the nervous system, which in turn branches out to the muscles, the venous system, the arteries–and especially to the lymphs, the core of our immune system. Every part of us gets to enjoy the change that occurs when we can connect with, for lack of a better word, our own Higher Self.

I tell many of my clients that, whether they’re in my office for smoking cessation, weight control, nail biting, sports injury–the list is long–they are really there for another reason. They’ve made a decision to take back their power. Often this involves taking power back from Dad or Mom or the tobacco lobby or…you get the drift. Once we let go of blame, however difficult that might seem at first, we can begin to take responsibility for our actions. Then we get power–and then we can more easily do whatever we must in order to allow the healing process to flourish. If I have to forgive someone in order to do that, well, so be it. As someone once said, forgiveness isn’t for someone else, it’s so I can sleep at night.
These days, I’d rather sleep at night than be right. And more important, I like feeling powerful in my life. Gratitude and Forgiveness equals Power.